Mitigating a toxic previous manager's influence in hiring process

May 31, 2022 1:53 PM

I'm in the reference check stage for a new job. I am worried that they will reach out to a previous manager who I had a bad relationship with. Is there any way to mitigate this or is it an it-is-what-it-is type of situation?

Basically, I was at a job for 3 years with Organization A. Organization A had a staff of 5 and a pretty toxic culture all around. I was the golden employee for several years (glowing performance reviews, promotion promised, etc) before being turned on by manager A, at which point I left for a new job as soon as I could while giving two weeks notice (fall of 2020). Manager A eventually turned on everyone that he ever worked with.

During the interview today, one of the interviewers mentioned Organization A and asked if I worked with manager A. I affirmed with a positive tone of voice and talked some about that workplace in the interview (I did get good professional experience there). I think that she knows manager A at least superficially and I know that they're connected/friendly on Twitter (retweet each others stuff on occasion etc).

I have been asked for references. I have not been listing Manager A as a reference because honestly I have no idea what he would say about me. My reference options are the following:

a. I will definitely list my supervisor at Organization B, the position I was at previously (now an exec director with a good reputation in the community, but I left that job in 2017 so it's pretty old at this point).

b. Coworkers from Organization A. I have 2 coworkers that I would be comfortable listing. I also could consider listing community partners that I worked with, although I haven't done a great job of keeping in touch.

c. I could possibly list supervisors further back than Organization B, but I'd be getting into jobs I held fairly briefly in 2014 and earlier.

I don't feel comfortable asking anyone from my current org to be a reference because I haven't let them know I'm looking.

Any thoughts on how to do damage control for Manager A or who to list as references? I think they like me so I could just cross my fingers and hope-- I may be overthinking a formality. But I'd hate to lose out on this just because ONE supervisor I've had in my life was a petty jerk who didn't like me.

posted by geegollygosh to Work & Money (6 answers total)

You're okay! You've handled it great so far! And yeah, for your formal references you should give your supervisor from B and a coworker from A, exactly as you've planned.

You'll be fine because 99% of hiring committees treat reference checks as a formality. By the time they get there, they want to hire you, and they want to wrap up the process. I think I am literally the only person I know who has NOT moved forward with a planned offer, based on the reference check. It's really rare.

It's possible the interviewer who knows manager A will reach out him informally, but it's unlikely. By-the-book organizations don't allow that, and most hiring managers worry it's quasi-illegal. And even if she does, if Manager A is awful about you, she is fairly likely to take it with a grain of salt given your other positive references.

So you are almost certainly fine :)
posted by Susan PG at 3:38 PM on May 31, 2022 [1 favorite]

Is HR running the process? If so they will go totally by the book and will only contact your authorized references (which are fine) and will ask boilerplate questions.

If the hiring manager reaches out to their contact without your permission you don’t want to work there anyway. I know that’s easy to say from my position but you don’t want to work for someone who values that manager’s opinion over the interview process and your authorized references.
posted by kapers at 4:05 PM on May 31, 2022 [4 favorites]

Also, as a manager I take “just didn’t get along” with a huge grain of salt—many relationships go bad for any number of reasons. If you didn’t commit fraud, screw over clients, or act like an ass to the point you alienated everyone, a single former manager’s personal opinion wouldn’t hold that much weight with me if I wanted to hire you, even I were friendly with them and it came up in conversation.
posted by kapers at 4:09 PM on May 31, 2022 [2 favorites]

I think your approach (supervisor from position B, colleagues from position A [assuming they are aware and will give positive references]) is sound. It's possible that the reference checker or hiring manager will reach out to your former manager, but that is frankly always possible and not something you can really control against. One thing I'd be prepared for is if you know that Manager A has some specific gripe about your work -- unfounded or not -- you should be prepared to speak to it.

They may ask why you didn't list Manager A so you might want to be prepared for that as well. I would not say that this manager turned on you or didn't like you, but rather focus on the opportunity you left for and how it prepared you for the position you are interviewing for, if relevant.
posted by sm1tten at 4:20 PM on May 31, 2022

HR usually does formal reference checks. You give them details, and make it easy to call references; they aren't likely to look further. If the interviewer knows your old boss, they may ask them questions; that's a crapshoot. But professionals know that they can get their company sued, so most don't say much.
posted by theora55 at 9:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

Just wanted to say that hiring managers do reference checks in my organization (state govt) not HR, and we frequently don’t hire folks based on poor references. That’s the whole point of a reference, right?

But with that being said, I think you’re fine. You have them a recent manager as a reference-we typically won’t move forward with someone who only gives peers, but it’s not uncommon to have just one manager.
posted by purenitrous at 9:07 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]